Andhra-Gujarat tie ends in a draw

Visakhapatanam:The Andhra-Gujarat Ranji trophy tie in the Elite A group ended in a draw on the final day of the last league match played at the Ukku Stadium here today.

Both teams were not in contention for the semifinal berth and Gujarat had to be content with the two points it gained for taking first innings lead.

Gujarat, with a first innings lead of 106 runs, were all out for 189 in the second essay and in reply hosts were 222 for 7 when play was stopped after the 17th mandatory over.

The visitors scored 420 in the first innings and restricted Andhra for 314 to gain the vital lead.

The visitors resumed the second innings at 55 without loss and compiled 189 with overnight opener Akash Christian carrying the bat with a sparkling unbeaten 90 off 115 balls with eleven hits to the fence while rest of the team has shown indifference in picking up runs.

With time and overs running out, Andhra batsmen tried to gain some quick runs with ASK Verma scripting a fluent 59 run essay but Salil Yadav (3 for 57) and Hitesh Mjumdar (3 for 41) speeded the things pushing hosts into defensive.

Play was stopped at 222 for 7 after the 17th mandatory over with Balajikishen Singh (31) and Md Faiq (38) at the crease.